LOKI	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Neil Gaiman and Kelley Jones

Loki (Norse Gods)

PERSONAL DATA

Aliases: Luke Pinkterton, Wolf's-Father, Skywalker, Mare's-Mother, Malice-Monger, Scar-Lip, Giant's Child, Lie-Smith, Wolf-Father
Identity: The general public believes Loki to be a figment of myth
Occupation: Norse god of mischief, evil and fire
Place of Birth: Jotunheim
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Bergelmir (brother); Odin (blood-brother); Sigyn (wife); Hel (daughter); Fenris the Wolf (son); The World Serpent (son); Narvi (son, deceased); Sleipner (son); Hrimtursa (uncle)
Group Affiliation(s): Formerly of the Jötun, formerly of the Aesir
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: None, formerly unknown (black?)
Hair: Red
Distinguishing Features: Both his eyes have been plucked out
First Appearance: Sandman Vol. 2 #24 (March 1991): "Seasons of Mists: Chapter 3"
Creators: Neil Gaiman and Kelley Jones

"Loki has no sense of gratitude. It burns and galls and aches him to be beholden. He is a serpent who must bite your hand even as you save him from a hunter. Loki cannot help striking the hand that aids him, striking with malice and slow poison. That is what he is. That is what he does." - Odin Quote taken from The Sandman Vol. 2 #63 (September 1994)

OVERVIEW

Loki is the Norse god of mischief, evil and fire, and constantly at odds with his former allies, the Norse Gods Odin and Thor.

HISTORY

Loki is the Norse god of mischief, evil and fire. Originally born of Jötun giants, Loki came to be the blood-brother of Allfather Odin and was invited to live in Asgard. Loki became the trickster of the Aesir pantheon, causing problems just as frequently as solving them. In one such case, a bet with a dwarf blacksmith resulted in Loki getting his lips sown up, giving him the scars still visible to this day and age as well as the name "Scar-Lip".

The not-so-flattering name "Mare's-Mother" was won when Loki had promised a giant the goddess Freya's hand in marriage if the giant managed to rebuild the walls of Asgard within six months. When Odin saw that the giant was well on his way of completing the work within the allotted time, he threatened to kill Loki if he didn't find a way out of this predicament. Loki finally managed to lure the giant's stallion away from the construction site by taking on the form of a mare. The end result was a failure to finish the work in time and that Loki gave birth to Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse… [As told in The Sandman Vol. 2 #61]

Loki has several other children, among them Narvi with his wife Sigyn, though his most feared and monstrous children were conceived with the giantess Angerboda: Hel (goddess of death), Fenris the Wolf and Jormungund the World Serpent. [As told in The Sandman Vol. 2 #61]

Loki was the thunder god Thor's companion in many adventures, but Loki rarely missed the opportunity to outwit or ridicule the somewhat dense thunder god. Or missing the chance of seducing Thor's wife Sif… Originally quite the harmless prankster, Loki grew more ruthless and evil over the years and allied himself with the forces of darkness. Knowing well that his fellow god Baldur's only vulnerability was mistletoe, Loki tricked the blind god Hödir into killing the nigh-invulnerable god of light with an arrow made from mistletoe. For this crime, the Aesir fettered Loki with the entrails of his own son Narvi, deep underground in the realm of Svartalfheim. The goddess Skadi hung a serpent over his face so that it would drip its venom into Loki's face for all eternity as punishment. His faithful wife Sigyn chose to remain with her husband and try to ease his suffering by collecting the venomous drops in a bowl. Whenever Sigyn would empty her bowl, the venom would cause Loki writhe in pain and make the earth tremble. The Vikings often attributed earthquakes to Loki's suffering.

After 1,200 years, Odin unexpectedly released Loki from captivity and asked him to accompany himself and Thor to the Dreaming in order to barter for the keys to Hell, which temporarily came in Morpheus' hands following the abdication of Lucifer. Sensing a connection between Morpheus and the mortal hero Sandman, Odin offered to release the Justice Society of America from limbo, where Odin had them playing out different Ragnarök scenarios, fighting demons and gods (or perhaps merely constructs). Eventually, Morpheus declined this offer and surrendered the control of Hell to Heaven. As the Aesir were returning to Asgard, Loki cast a spell on the Japanese god Susano-O-No-Mikoto so that he would be made to suffer in his place; a ruse which was twarthed by Morpheus himself. Morpheus took pity on Loki – perhaps as a result of his own long imprisonment at the hands of Roderick Burgess – and replaced Loki with a dream image so that Loki could roam free once again. [The Sandman Vol. 2 #24-28, "Season of Mists"]

True to form, Loki repaid grace with betrayal. Loki and Robin Godfellow, the Puck of the Faeries, started plotting Morpheus' fall; and some suggest that this was also the intent of the weary Lord of Dreams all along. But before these plans could be set in motion, Loki and the gods of all earthly pantheons came under the control of the sorceress Circe during the event known as the War of the Gods. Together with Thor and a temporarily resurrected Baldur, Loki turned the people of a hidden Viking city in Norway into wood and fought the Justice League International [War of the Gods #2, 4; Justice League Europe #31].

After being released from Circe's spell, Loki once again turned his attentions towards Morpheus' downfall. By kidnapping Daniel Hall, the son of the former superheroes Lyta (Fury II) and Hector Hall (Silver Scarab, Sandman III, Doctor Fate IV), and posing as police officers Luke Pinkerton and Gordy Fellowes, Loki and Puck manipulated Lyta into seeking revenge through her connection to the Furies, the three witches who also serve as ancient goddesses of vengeance. Morpheus' servants Matthew the Raven and the Corinthian tracked the villains to a castle in Svartalfheim, retrieved the boy and left Loki badly wounded, his eyes plucked out by the Corinthian. There, Loki was found by Odin and Thor, who brought him back to the underground cavern of suffering where Loki now awaits the day of Ragnarök, when he will break free of his bonds, board the Naglfar – a ship made out of dead men's fingernails – and lead the forces of darkness against the gods. [The Sandman Vol. 2 #57-69, "The Kindly Ones"]

Recently, Loki's suffering was somewhat lessened when Lucifer killed the venom-dripping serpent in exchange for the Naglfar. Before leaving, Lucifer recommended that Loki continue to scream from time to time. "[Odin] may never notice the difference."[Lucifer #34]

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Loki is a shapeshifter and has taken on many forms. His changes are not merely illusions in the eyes of the beholder; he is truly transformed physically into another creature (which explains how he was able to turn into a mare and give birth to a fowl). Loki also seems to exact some mastery of fire, being invulnerable to it and being able to cause spontaneous combustion in humans.

As the name "Skywalker" indicates, Loki can also defy gravity and fly.

Being well versed in magic, his powers may all be magic in origin. But his greatest resource is without doubt his cunning.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Loki in chronological order click here